Sean Gives Developers
a Sharpe Rap

Last Update: 13 September 2002

Day and Night column
Daily Express
Tuesday 10 September 2002

Lord of the Rings star Sean Bean is drawing
on his experiences of fights to the death in Middle Earth by leading
a battle with a developer planning to bulldoze a row of buildings
near his North London home.

Sean, 43, who won over cinema audiences
as proud warrior Boromir in the hit film, says the demolition
of the shop and houses is a threat to the village character of
trendy Belsize Park, where the Sheffield-born star lives.

"I, among many others in the community,
am strongly against the proposed redevelopment of these buildings,"
says Sean, whose name tops a 400-strong petition against the scheme.

"I believe they are integral to the
character of Belsize Park village and to demolish them will erode
the character and the atmosphere of the area."

Sean, who earned his gritty image as a
swashbuckling soldier in the popular TV series Sharpe and as gardener
Mellors in Lady Chatterley's Lover, has been joined in his campaign
by local MP Glenda Jackson and former Labour Party leader Michael
Foot.

The owner of the properties, Mountview
Estates, has applied to Camden Council to replace the buildings
with four three-storey townhouses. Sean and his fellow campaigners,
however, fear the development will also restrict sunlight to neighbouring
buildings.

The shop due to be demolished is Zarka
Marble, which fits marble bathrooms and furnishings for clients,
incluidng actor Charles Dance. Its co-owner Vincent Schofield
says: "It is very heartening that so many people, including
Michael Foot and Sean Bean, have signed the petition. Everybody
in the community is against the proposed development because it
will destroy the village. We will lose the light that the buildings
in their present state allow."

If the application is successful, the
tenants of the houses will be rehoused under a legal requirement.

This is not the first time Sean has become
involved in a neighbourhood issue. He once signed a petition to
stop the council felling an ash tree.
Despite his campaigning, he has still found time for a West End
play, appearing in the title role of Shakespeare's Macbeth opposite
Samantha Bond, who is best known as James Bond's Miss Moneypenny.

Mountfiew Estates declines to comment
on its planning application.

Sean Bean backs bid to halt new townhouses
Scheme is threat to village character, says actor
- from a Hampstead local newspaper

HE may have played a baddie in the
James Bond movie GoldenEye, but film actor Sean Bean is a good
guy at heart.

The star, who lives in Belsize Park, and
whose recent credits include Peter Jacksons 2002 box office
smash The Fellowship of the Ring, is among residents backing a
campaign to save a long-standing business in Belsize Terrace.

Sheffield-born Mr Bean, who also starred
in swashbuckling television series Sharpe, has put his name to
a 400-strong petition to stop the proposed bulldozing of three
buildings, including one which houses Zarka Marble.

He said: I, amongst many others
in the community, am strongly against the proposed redevelopment
of these buildings.

I believe that they are integral
to the character of Belsize Park village and to demolish them
will erode the character and the atmosphere of the area.

The owner of the properties, Mountview
Estates, has applied to Camden Council to replace the buildings
with four three-storey townhouses.

But campaigners, who also include former
Labour leader Michael Foot and Hampstead and Highgate MP Glenda
Jackson, fear that the development will spoil the character of
the area and restrict sunlight to neighbouring buildings.

Vincent Schofield, who runs Zarka Marble
with business partner Colin Wilkes, said: It is very good,
very heartening that so many people, including Michael Foot and
Sean Bean, have signed the petition. Everybody in the community
is against the proposed development because it will destroy the
village. We will lose the green corner and lose the light that
the buildings in their present state allow.

If the application is successful, the
tenants of the houses will be rehoused, under a legal requirement.

But Mr Schofield, who has run the business
- fitting marble bathrooms and furnishings for clients including
actor Charles Dance - since 1984, said that Zarka Marbles
future was less certain: As far as I am concerned there
is nowhere more perfect for our showroom. I really dont
know where we will go or what we will do if Mountviews application
is approved.

This is not the first time that Sean Bean
has put his name to a neighbourhood issue.

In September 2000, he got behind a petition
to stop the council from felling an ash tree near his home.

Mountview Estates declined to comment.

Losing their marbles over demolition
16 Aug 2002

PLANS to demolish two homes and a long-standing
business in Belsize Lane have stunned residents who say the proposals
will ruin the area.
Mountview Estates is seeking planning permission from Camden Council
to bulldoze the three buildings and replace them with four three-storey
townhouses.

Jenny Flavill, who has rented one of the
houses for 31 years, said: As a bombshell on Monday morning
I got a letter from the council telling me that my home is going
to be demolished. I would have thought that the company would
have let me know. They want to make money - as developers do -
but they want to build two storeys higher, which is not going
to enhance the village at all.

Ms Flavill is a protected tenant, which
means Mountview will have to find her somewhere to live that is
acceptable to her.

Colin Wilkins and Vincent Schofield, partners
in Zarka Marble, which makes marble fittings for the home and
has been on the site for more than 15 years, say they dont
know where they will go next if they are turfed out of the property.

Mr Schofield said he had been expecting
the worst since the previous owner of the building died two years
ago and the properties were snapped up by Mountview.

If Camden gives permission for this
to be razed to the ground and redeveloped it would be devastating,
Mr Schofield said.

I wont know where to operate
from. If it was for homeless people or teachers it would make
sense, but I know what they are going to be doing is making as
much money as possible.